Lawrence Beck
Nicely put, Joe. You've described a journey that all of us of a certain age have taken.
2015-03-26

countryfog
This is something I do too each summer . . . my first childhood home is now part of the parking lot of a church, but what is not gone is my first dog, buried in the back yard, making sacred ground even more so. And the alley behind is still there, where more than anywhere we all came and played, and all that seems so innocent now that it brings me to tears for the loss of that innocence, the grace of a time never to be found again in this life.
2015-03-26

You have indeed captured the sadness of change and the nostalgia for what used to be. This is beautifully written. Love it.
~Ashe
2015-03-26

shells
When the past and the present collide in loss, it's the abruptness of it all that catches us, you have so captured it for me.
2015-03-26

jim
I too have gone down the old road, instead of finding a neighborhood in decay, I found all the old houses (except for the one where I lived as a kid) had been torn down and replaced with supersized mini-mansions, if something can be supersized and mini at the same time.

It seems very distant to me, I'm not sure I have deep feelings for it, the old neighborhood, but losing friends, that's tough. I understand that. Good poem.
2015-03-25

Elle
We return for those occasions, they are fused to our marrow, the memories, bittersweet but part of us - I have been to too many funerals of late, so this rang a chord within me and while this was your street, I travelled the roads to mine also

Elle x
2015-03-25

one trick pony
this is truly poignant, gently conveyed. i could imagine kids on swing sets, and playground sounds. it's sad.
2015-03-25